Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was already on track to lose North Carolina’s gubernatorial race, but the right-wing candidate’s troubles went from bad to worse last week. CNN appeared to uncover evidence of the GOP candidate publishing to a porn website’s message board, describing himself as a “black NAZI.” The same report pointed to evidence of Robinson having written that slavery wasn’t necessarily a “bad” thing and about his enjoyment of transgender pornography.
While Robinson has denied the accuracy of the reporting, the Republican — who was widely recognized as a radically extreme candidate before these allegations — continued to face related accusations in the days that followed. The Washington Post reported late Friday, “A porn site user linked to North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson praised Adolf Hitler’s book ‘Mein Kampf.’”
NBC News hasn’t confirmed the allegations, but it did shine a light on the exodus from the right-wing candidate’s campaign headquarters:
Four top staff members of Mark Robinson’s campaign for North Carolina governor have stepped down, the campaign announced Sunday as the candidate faces calls from Republicans to do the same. The campaign’s comment did not link the staff departures to the bombshell CNN report alleging Robinson, a Republican, made antisemitic and racist comments years ago on a porn website, and it did not say why the staffers were stepping down.
These were not obscure figures on Team Robinson. On the contrary, with roughly six weeks remaining before Election Day, the scandal-plagued candidate lost his campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, finance director and senior adviser.
The local NPR affiliate reported soon after that, in the wake of the resignations, Robinson’s campaign operation was left with just three paid aides — one of whom is the candidate’s bodyguard.
Given these circumstances, it’s tempting to think the party’s presidential ticket might take overt steps to distance itself from the North Carolinian. After all, as recently as Thursday, there were reports that some working on behalf of Donald Trump’s campaign were among those urging Robinson to withdraw from the race.
But as things stand, Team Trump isn’t prepared to abandon the gubernatorial hopeful just yet.
The former president campaigned in North Carolina on Saturday, and while Trump didn’t share the stage with Robinson, and he was careful not to mention Robinson, Trump campaign insiders told NBC News the White House hopeful has no plans to pull his endorsement.
As for Trump’s running mate, JD Vance’s initial response to the scandal was to argue online that Robinson is less important than grocery prices. (A report in The Atlantic noted last week, “U.S. grocery inflation has been dead in its tracks since last year — prices are up just about 1 percent compared with summer 2023.”)
That was not, however, the Ohio senator’s final word on the subject. NBC News reported:
Sen. JD Vance on Saturday reacted for the first time to the bombshell report about Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, saying that the allegations against Robinson “aren’t necessarily reality.”
In comments to the network affiliate in Philadelphia, the Republican vice presidential hopeful said on camera, “The allegations are pretty far out there, of course, but I know that allegations aren’t necessarily reality.” Asked whether he believed Robinson’s seemingly outlandish denials, Vance went on to say, “I don’t not believe him, I don’t believe him.” Evidently, those responsible for running Robinson’s statewide campaign came to a very different conclusion. As the election season progresses, let’s also not forget that Robinson faced perfectly credible primary rivals earlier this year, both of whom warned North Carolina Republicans that Robinson’s unambiguous record of radicalism made him a poor choice for a critically important race. Trump backed him anyway, and local GOP voters backed Robinson over his intraparty rivals by a lopsided margin. Primary election results have consequences, too.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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